%0 Journal Article
%A García-Alcón A
%A González-Peñas J
%A Weckx E
%A Penzol MJ
%A Gurriarán X
%A Costas J
%A Díaz-Caneja CM
%A Moreno Ruiz, María del Carmen
%A Hernández Benito, Estefanía Patricia
%A Arango López, Celso
%A Parellada M
%T Oxytocin Exposure in Labor and its Relationship with Cognitive Impairment and the Genetic Architecture of Autism
%D 2023
%@ 0162-3257
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/115560
%X Whether there is a relationship between oxytocin (OXT) use in labor and the risk of autism (ASD), and the nature of such relationship, is unclear. By integrating genetic and clinical data in a sample of 176 ASD participants, we tested the hypothesis that OXT is a marker for abnormal prenatal development which leads to impairments in the process of labor. OXT-exposed ASD had more obstetric complications (P = 0.031), earlier onset of symptoms (P = 0.027), poorer cognitive development (P = 0.011), higher mutation burden across neurodevelopment genes (P = 0.020; OR = 5.33) and lower transmission of polygenic risk for ASD (P = 0.0319), than non-exposed ASD. OXT seems to constitute a risk indicator rather than a risk factor for ASD, which is relevant for diagnostic and genetic counselling.
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